


A Different Shade of Red

by SereneSorrow



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, GinIchi Day 2020, Kuorsaki Ichigo is a Shiba, M/M, Role Reversal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25861210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SereneSorrow/pseuds/SereneSorrow
Summary: Ichimaru Gin is out for a walk one day when he spots someone laying on the ground, when he feeds this stranger they follow him home.
Relationships: Ichimaru Gin/Kurosaki Ichigo
Comments: 3
Kudos: 62
Collections: GinIchi Day 2020





	A Different Shade of Red

**Author's Note:**

> So I had this idea for GinIchi WinterFest 2020 but didn't get it finished... it went from 're-tell Gin's meeting Rangiku into Gin meeting Ichigo' into way more story than I intended, but now it's a whole thing... ~eh.

The barren landscape around him was nothing but dirt and dead trees. Normally there wasn't a single splash of color any lower than the bright blue sky. Gin didn't walk this way very often, but sometimes he had to in order to get from one place to another, especially if he'd been having bad luck with his foraging. Today was the first time that the dull colors on the ground were embellished, and it was by a splash of fire.

Not real fire, but a fiery reddish-orange color, long tufts of hair were blowing in the light breeze. The movement wouldn't have caught his attention if not for the out of place shade, and Gin was drawn closer out of curiosity. Shuffling up to what resolved into a body laying on the ground, Gin realized that it was a kid about his own age, ragged clothes and dirty skin and thin. The (boy?) was weak, looking starved and exhausted, their blank gaze cast to the side at nothing in particular.

With a frown Gin considered the stranger, he didn't like to get involved with other people and their problems because no one else ever tried to help _him_ when _he_ was struggling, but that brightly colored hair seemed to have drawn him in. With a huff of surprise at himself Gin chose one of the persimmons he'd collected and leaned over the kid, practically shoving it against their mouth while telling them to eat.

“Ya' know, if ya' can pass out from bein' hungry then ya' must have that power.” Gin said when the other kid blinked.

“You mean spirit energy?” The kid said in a dry and raspy voice, but at the same time the redhead took the persimmon with weak fingers and started nibbling on it.

“Is tha' what it's called?” Gin wondered _'if this kid knows more about it than I do then why isn't he in better shape?'_

“Mmm.” The redhead pushed himself up slowly to sit at Gin's feet and nodded, still nibbling on the food and glancing occasionally at Gin but mostly looking down at the ground, or maybe his knees.

“I'm Gin, by the way.” He prompted the pretty stranger.

“Oh! Ichigo. I'm Ichigo.” The kid rasped, around the last bite of persimmon.

“Well, Ichi-chan, if you're stayin' around here this is a bad place to rest. I'm only passin' through because there's no other way ta' town.” Gin said.

Ichigo spluttered and then glowered at him over the nickname, bouncing up to his feet and practically chasing Gin all the way to the nearby town. With a grin on his face Gin trotted ahead of his fiery new friend until Ichigo collapsed again and Gin had to share more of his persimmons.

***  
***

The bullies scattered and ran from the hail of rocks and Ichigo struggled up to his knees in the dirt and looked around. The rocks stopped falling and Gin dropped down out of the tree he had hidden in to approach his friend.

“What were they mad about this time?” He asked as he helped Ichigo stand up.

“My hair! They kept asking if I'm a boy or a girl.” Ichigo rubbed his face with his sleeves as he spoke, drying the tears in his eyes as he sniffled.

“Ya' could get a haircut.” Gin suggested, not really sure what to do about the crying.

Ichigo cried a lot, over lots of little things that Gin wouldn't think twice about, and Gin didn't have any experience with this sort of thing either. All he usually did was stand around helplessly and stare at Ichigo until the other boy told Gin to hug him or something. Gin always did it, unsure of himself and just generally confused by his friend, but happy when Ichigo calmed down and smiled at him afterward.

“Why can't I have long hair? Mom had long hair, and it was pretty.” Ichigo whined, starting to dig his fingers through the tangles that had collected the dirt that the other boys had thrown at him.

“Okay, I guess ya' can, just most boys don't.” Gin shrugged, watching Ichigo struggle with the dirt.

He'd never said it, but he did like Ichigo's hair a lot. It was the reason that he and Ichigo had met in the first place and it made him easy for Gin to find from a distance, but that wasn't the only reason. He still didn't know if Ichigo was the same age as he himself, or younger and he knew that Ichigo was a boy, but sometimes he looked and acted like a girl and Gin couldn't help thinking that he was really cute. He often wanted to tease Ichigo about it, but then he'd be too much like the bullies that always hurt Ichigo's feelings, so he knew that Ichigo wouldn't laugh if he did. That's why he kept the urge to himself, and dealt with the weird twisty feeling in his stomach when he did so.

“Well I want to. They're stupid anyway.” Ichigo pouted.

“If they hear ya' say that they'll attack ya' all over again, it'll be worse than throwin' dirt too.” Gin pointed out.

“Well, well too bad!” Ichigo nibbled his lip nervously before mumbling “...I don't wanna be attacked.”

“Okay, I'll protect ya' then.” Gin decided right there on the spot and promised to Ichigo's lightening expression.

“Like a husband and wife!” He suddenly exclaimed.

“What is?” Gin was taken aback at the description.

“Us! I have pretty hair like the wife, and you protect me like the husband! Ichigo said as he tugged the rest of the dirt out of his hair more quickly, moving about excitedly now.

“O-okay, we can be husband and wife.” Gin said with a faint blush that got stronger as he spoke quietly.

It was hard to disagree when Ichigo said things like that. It made the twisting feeling in his stomach more troublesome, but Ichigo always seemed happier when Gin agreed with the things Ichigo said, and Gin preferred it when Ichigo was happy.

“We do already live together, we could get married.” Ichigo mused, paying almost no attention to his hair by now, just absently twirling some of the ends in his fingers.

“What's 'married'?” Gin asked, not sure he knew that word.

“It's how you become husband and wife! There's a cer-remony” Ichigo stumbled over the word, “then everyone knows, not just us!” Ichigo was bouncing on his heels excitedly, and Gin could only helplessly agree to his friend's proposal.

***  
***

Following the three men, who had killed the redheaded girl they had seen in the forest while they collected firewood, found the two boys crouched in the bushes in the dark of night. Kneeling side by side they peered through the leaves to see the men kneeling as well, and presenting that pink light they had stolen to a man wearing glasses. The light gleamed off of the lenses as his face was lit clearly enough for them both to see his face, and memorize it.

Neither of them were sure of what the man was doing as he dropped the pink orb into a container that held another, blue orb, but they watched in shocked suspense as the light grew into a flash that left only the blue orb remaining.

Fingers crept over and nearly crushed Gin's hand when Ichigo held it tightly. Gin glanced aside at his friend to see him shaking, a horrified look on his face in response to what he was watching.

“Ka-san.” Ichigo whispered at the sight, eyes locked on the glowing orb, blank in a way that Gin hadn't seen since the day they had first met.

It terrified him, to see Ichigo so scared and broken looking, like there was no reason to go on. He never wanted to see that look in Ichigo's eyes again.

***  
***

They lived in their little house in the woods for several months after they witnessed the shinigami that Ichigo had quietly explained had taken his mother away from him. Ichigo was much quieter now and Gin was worried about the direction of his wife's constantly turning thoughts. He didn't know how to take Ichigo's mind off of it, or what he could do to make it better and he cursed the pleasantly smiling shinigami for hurting his wife.

He didn't have much time to dwell on how Ichigo was feeling though, not as much as he'd like, because the weather changed. Their home was good enough for shelter in the other three seasons, winter was cold though, and when the little house blew down Ichigo finally insisted. He said that he knew where to go, that there was somewhere that would shelter them. Gin didn't really believe it, but Ichigo had never much talked about where he'd come from and Gin still hadn't learned how to get those particular answers that he wanted out of Ichigo.

Dragging Gin along by the hand, after packing up his entire life in the tiny bundle of a single blanket, Ichigo walked all the way to the village and beyond. Gin trudged behind him, shivering, and wondering where they were going and how Ichigo knew the way to wherever it was.

The journey took days, even with Ichigo's persistence, and Gin thought that they would have been warmer and safer if they had stayed and tried to rebuild the house. They had to resort to huddling together in alleys and under deep tree roots several times and even walked through snowfall, but every time Gin tried to tug Ichigo back around they way they'd come he stubbornly insisted that they continue on. He had a kind of resolve that made Gin worry about him.

As the districts shrank behind them Gin became more worried about just where Ichigo was taking them, but he could see just how determined Ichigo was to continue and Gin could only resolve to be careful and protect Ichigo if he had to.

***  
***

Gin hesitated nervously when Ichigo pulled him toward the open gate. It was flanked by two large men, and the house he could see deep within the grounds was richer than any building Gin had ever seen and he didn't know what Ichigo was thinking by trying to approach it. He'd taught Ichigo about avoiding the wealthy people, they always found reasons to hurt you, or make things more difficult for you or even take things from you. He didn't understand what Ichigo thought he was doing.

Ichigo leaned forward though, and pulled with all his weight, and Gin stumbled forward after him as they passed through the gate. The walk was a long one and there were other people around who turned to stare at them, but someone actually opened the door when they got to it and then they were just a few steps through the door when a woman's voice rang out, startling Gin.

“Shiba Ichigo! Where have you been?” The shrewd woman barked as she bustled toward them.

Gin's heart sank at the words, his hand gripping Ichigo's tighter as he looked at his friend. _'Shiba?'_ He wondered, because Ichigo had never said that he had a family name. He wanted to know why they were in this fancy house, why they were even allowed inside and why someone here knew who Ichigo was.

Still shivering from the cold in his threadbare clothing, Gin watched as several other people came out of rooms and gathered around them. He didn't know what to do under their scrutiny but Ichigo didn't seem to have such a problem with it.

“I got lost.” Ichigo lied.

It was definitely a lie, he'd known exactly how to get here from their home, he just hadn't bothered to make the trip until now because the home Gin had built had collapsed. Just what was Ichigo expecting from these people, after everything Gin had taught him?

“Where is Masaki-sama?” One of the women surrounding them asked as she leaned in closer.

“Ka-san...” Ichigo looked down and Gin squeezed his hand again, knowing how badly he felt whenever he thought of his mother.

“Ka-san can't come back.” Ichigo mumbled, making the people around them share looks and then look down at Ichigo with pity that made Gin angry.

They made a lot of falsely comforting noises and gestures that made Gin suspicious, but he couldn't say anything to Ichigo when they were all so close. Ichigo himself didn't seem too interested in their words but he didn't seem uncomfortable either.

“Well we'll get you all warmed up.” One of the women said eventually, as another turned and spoke to a man by the door.

“Send someone to tell Isshin-sama.”

There was a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, and Gin didn't like that, but he didn't know how to speak up in this crowd. He couldn't just drag Ichigo back out the way they'd come, not with everyone's attention on them and the way they seemed to think Ichigo belonged here.

When the women tried to steer Ichigo along somewhere they finally seemed to notice him, or decided to pay attention to him at least. Gin was sure that it wasn't a good thing that they did, even though Ichigo didn't seem worried.

“You didn't come home alone...” One of the women led as she spoke to Ichigo while they traveled down a hallway.

“Oh?” Another one of the women exclaimed falsely. “And who is your friend?” She asked, picking up from the first and suddenly all of the attention was on Gin.

“Not friend! Husband! We're getting married someday!” Ichigo declared to everyone's surprise.

He had stopped walking when he'd spoken and wrapped his arms around Gin, and now he had such a serious and determined look on his face that Gin could see the women were surprised. The rest of the clan around them looked as though they didn't know whether to exclaim over how cute Ichigo was or feel dismayed by the thought of Ichigo bringing a rukon brat into their expensive estate.

“Okay then,” The smiling woman said with a chuckle while the shrewd woman glared at Gin, “well let's get you that bath and then some dinner.”

Ichigo followed the woman easily but Gin was more apprehensive. This was going too well, and he knew that people with money didn't like having him around. He was right to be worried too, because Gin and Ichigo were separated for the baths that the women told Ichigo was for 'propriety', and Gin found himself being dragged by the arm through several halls and back out of the house instead of to any bath. He struggled against the grip of the large man's hand but it was useless, and he didn't miss that the shrewd woman had followed and was glaring at him the way so many people did, like they hated him just for existing.

“What are ya' doing to me?” Gin demanded of them both, _finally_ finding his voice and making the shrewd woman's nose wrinkle as she stared at him.

“Just get him out of the district, that should be far enough, the guards won't let him back in.” She told the man holding his arm without actually speaking to _him_.

“Are you sure we don't need to make more permanent arrangements?” The man asked, chilling Gin's blood and making his already cold numbed fingers curl into fists.

“Don't be rediculous! Even if you aren't a _Shiba_ , as a vassal clan you should know that the we don't kill undesirables the way Shihoin do!” She snapped at the man. “Just remove him, he probably won't last long anyway.”

Dismissed entirely, Gin continued to struggle as the man dragged him back out of the gate and through the fancy district, until they were back in the wide road that Ichigo had lead him down to get to this district in the first place. Gin was dragging his feet and planting his heels in the dirt but the man was much stronger than he was and soon he found himself flung forward, his palms and knees barely catching him and losing skin as they did.

Glaring around at the man, Gin wanted to attack him when he turned his back and re-entered the first district, but he knew that it would only earn him a kick or an even worse beating. Instead he stayed right where he was and glared at the man, redirecting his hopeless anger at him, instead of at Ichigo who had actually been naive enough to think that Gin would be allowed to stay in a place like that. If he'd just told Gin where they were going, then he could have explained to Ichigo exactly how unwelcome he would be, but now they were separated, and Gin would probably never see Ichigo again.

Lifting a hand and slamming his closed fist against the hard, frozen ground, Gin forced down the desire to cry and instead punched the dirt until his hand shook and blood stained his knuckles. If Ichigo had just _told_ him... but no, now Ichigo was going to live in a huge clan estate because apparently he was someone important, while Gin was trapped in some lower district with no way home and no food or money.

_'Stupid wife!'_ Gin thought to himself as he stood and scowled at all the rich people watching him.

Expression pinched and body still shaking he started walking, with no idea where he was going or what he was going to do. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was going to survive, he was going to survive and find a way to reach Ichigo again. If the _idiot_ even remembered him by then, even bothered to think about him after this, then Gin would get him away from those stupid rich people. If he didn't remember? Bitterly, Gin thought that he would make Ichigo regret being so naive.

**Author's Note:**

> So that's the end of 'part one' (like I said, this idea got way out of hand) and no, part two isn't written yet... fair warning I don't know when I'll get it finished.


End file.
